Documentary ‘Homeboy’ explores gay gang members; film to show Sunday at 2013 QFilm Festival in Long Beach

Sergio Romero, left, and Cisco Rios, right, talk about being gay gang members and about the documentary film "Homeboy" which looks at gay gang members micro-culture within the gang culture in Los Angeles August 28, 2013. (Thomas R. Cordova / Staff Photographer)

LONG BEACH >> Sergio Romero knew it would be difficult for his mother to accept that the 37-year-old was gay, but it still shocked and hurt him to learn she preferred her son to be an active gang member than to be gay.

“For her, I was more of a man as a gang member than being gay,” said Romero as he sat in a Los Angeles coffee shop telling his story of being an active member of a notorious street gang and gay. He is one of the men featured in a documentary, “Homeboy,” on Latino gang members who are gay that will be screened this weekend at the QFilm Festival, Long Beach’s longest-running film festival presenting narrative features, documentaries and short films about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.

Filmmaker Dino Dinco felt this was an underrepresented population that had stories that needed to be told.

“This began with two of my friends who have since passed away, who were in gangs,” said Dinco, who spent nearly 10 years creating the film.

Gay gang members who are in Latino gangs not only have to deal with the stereotypical machismo seen in Latino culture, Dinco said, they have to contend with the hyper-masculine posturing within the gang microculture.

“Before social media and Facebook, I had to post fliers in gay bars in order to find people willing to talk to me,” Dinco said.

With an estimated 9 million Americans identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, according to a 2011 report from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law, gays are part of nearly every aspect of life, even within the gang life. However, an exact number of openly gay gang members is difficult to come by since many do not disclose their sexual orientation.

It took Manuel — he wanted to use only his first name — several years to admit he was gay.

Manuel spent nearly two years in Chino Institution for Men on a drug conviction in the ’90s and said he did engage in homosexual activities behind bars but was in denial about the fact he was gay.

“I kept saying to myself I wasn’t gay because I had a girlfriend and was only doing that because I was in prison,” said the 33-year-old man who lives in the Inland Empire.

Manuel, who grew up in the South Los Angeles area and spent a good deal of time in Long Beach, did not want to disclose what city he lived in for fear of retaliation.

While most gay gang members operate within traditional gangs, there is a group made up solely of gay criminals.

The Gay Boy Gangsters are part of a group of prison gangs that have sprung up on the sensitive needs yards, according to Richard Valdemar, a gang expert and retired Los Angeles Police Department gang detective. Those yards at California state prisons are designated for inmates requiring special protection, such as certain sex offenders, informants and homosexuals.

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The groups or gangs are mostly made up of inmates known as dropouts who have asked to be placed on the sensitive needs yard in exchange for information about gang activities. Manuel, however, said he was not on the special needs yard while in prison.

There are dropout gangs in 32 of the 33 California state prisons, Valdemar said in a recent interview. While he said these gangs are a growing problem, San Bernardino County Probation Officer and gang expert Nate Scarrano said the number of people in the gangs is still small.

“What happens is you get these guys on the special needs yards who know how to be gang members and they form these gangs,” Scarrano said, adding that the main reason Gay Boy Gangsters members formed this alliance is their sexual preference.

Manuel has been living as a gay man for nearly a decade and is in a committed relationship. He has tried to erase most of the signs of his criminal past, but there are still some remnants, including a few tattoos.

“I gave up the Dickies and Ben Davises (gang clothing) but I still have some tattoos that I’m trying to remove,” he said, lifting his shirt to expose some faded and splotchy black marks that spell out the name of his former gang.

Both Manuel and Romero said they joined the gangs for the same reasons other young boys join: to have the support system they felt was lacking in their family structure.

“My mom wasn’t really around too much,” said Romero, who lives in East Los Angeles.

A quiet boy, he was frequently the target of bullies, Romero said, until one day a gang member offered him protection and taught Romero how to fight.

For several years Romero committed crimes for the gang, including drug-related crimes and was even picked up in a murder investigation.

“It was really hard because it’s not accepted by the gang and as Latinos, it’s not really accepted by our families as a culture,” said Romero, prompting nods from Cisco Rios, another former gang member featured in the “Homeboy” movie.

Rios also agreed with Romero that there are ways to signal one’s intentions within the gang. “Sometimes it’s a look and you just know,” said Rios, who has been in a committed relationship for three years.

Rios’ and Manuel’s families initially grappled with accepting their sons as gay, but both say they now have great relationships with them, especially their mothers.

“My mom loves me,” Rios said.

Rios, who followed older siblings into gang life, finally walked away after being ordered into rehab in Seattle and then living there for a few years. When he returned, he learned most of the people he ran with had died either in gang violence or through drug overdoses.

Romero left his gang when he was arrested in connection with a murder investigation. He was never charged in the incident, but Romero realized his gang family had turned their backs on him while he behind bars.

After being released, Romero was placed in Job Corps.

“That’s where I had my first open homosexual encounter,” Romero said.

Romero completed his Job Corps training and then went on to receive two bachelor’s degrees, one in the medical field.

“I have a good job now and a good life, and if my family doesn’t want to be a part of that, I mean it hurts, but I don’t have time to worry about that,” Romero said, a large smile spreading across his face. “I’ve come a long way and I deserve it.”

“Homeboy” will be screened on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Art Theatre, located at 2025 E. 4th Street.